Litchfield City Council Had a Lengthy Meeting

The Litchfield City Council had a lengthy meeting Monday evening. The Council members actually started their work earlier Monday afternoon with a work session in which a League of Minnesota Cities official spoke to them about best practices – kind of a refresher course for how to conduct orderly meetings.

Mayor Ron Dingmann says Monday evening’s meeting began with a public hearing on the $4.4-million Swift Avenue improvement project which is scheduled to take place next summer from 6th Street to Ripley Street, and will also include one block of Ripley Street from Swift to Miller Avenues. He says there are state-aid and federal funds to help with the cost, but the local residents will be assessed a total of $366,000.

Mayor Dingmann says the Council will have the first reading of a wastewater rate change at the November 3rd meeting and they are looking at about a 3% rate increase to help pay for the needed wastewater improvements. On a related note, an easement vacation public hearing has been set for the October 20th meeting as the easement is needed for the property at the wastewater plant where First District Association will be building its pretreatment facility before they can proceed with their purchase of the property.

Mayor Dingmann says a couple of dedicated funds have been set up so that a pickle ball group and the Masons can proceed with fundraising for their respective projects at South Park. The specific locations for new pickle ball courts and a Masons shelter have yet to be decided within South Park. He says the Council voted 4-to-3 in favor of purchasing an autonomous sweeper rather than a ride-on sweeper for the Litchfield Area Recreation Center.

Mayor Dingmann says the Council heard from Michael Otto on Monday evening about a group of senior cribbage players who used to meet in the Civic Arena, but – like the Golden Age card players – got displaced when the LARC was constructed, so a motion was approved to let these senior players meet at the LARC for no charge until January 1st when a policy on the matter is determined. He says, among other matters that were discussed during Monday’s meeting, the Council approved of having the Street Dept. help the Litchfield Visitors Bureau get their annual holiday light display set up in Central Park; and residents were encouraged to contact the Police Dept. with complaints regarding excessive speeding on 5th Street in the Gilman Avenue area.